tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74962379263586881952024-02-07T19:59:52.605-08:00LIFE LISTToby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-73726343156269029702023-05-21T11:20:00.004-07:002023-05-21T11:24:33.667-07:00THINGS WE SHOULD DO AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR<p> As I was reading my last post this morning, I was inspired to look at my LIFE LIST in a new way, with a different time reference: a list of things that I want to do it at least once a year!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://breathtakinglifelist.blogspot.com/2022/10/how-did-i-get-here.html?m=1">Click HERE for that post</a><br /></p>Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-84524170163406736832022-10-24T11:26:00.027-07:002023-05-21T11:15:22.327-07:00HOW DID I GET HERE? MY LIFE LIST AT 75!<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;">Monday, October 24, 2022 <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:30 am ... I am nearly conscious but enough to be moved by stars twinkling brightly through our bedroom window. Not often do they shimmer so radiantly over our part of the Pacific. Is this a dream? I slip into my heaviest winter robe, step out onto the
deck and move a lounge chair to take advantage of this infrequent celestial experience.</span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Just
before reclining into my angle of repose, there streaks a singular shooting
star flashing to the </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">southwest. So life affirming that </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">bracing the twilight chill merits leaving the warmth and coziness of our bed. I go back inside, grab one of Patricia's ice hockey blankets, then settle in to watch the subtle shift from star glimmering night to astronomical twilight. An exquisite way to celebrate my 75th birthday. So memorable was this that I'm placing it on my life list do once a year. But am was I dreaming?</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZsceJ8Hhg17L70zyQUcLippKvgao8PN-tiiHplGEPrlDFbc1B1KcOy1MbHeEzT5jixLKvtEkEP7Nl8dGZBOcxeC4h7AkLYIA5PL2j8CaszrpALlNdJkuCdwLANnQL9zmkpv3xJx3WkdHBxe5Tx1qRMelkpdcmLGMO3P1Flo8Vd3H3g2hZ64iPrsp/s636/twi.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="636" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZsceJ8Hhg17L70zyQUcLippKvgao8PN-tiiHplGEPrlDFbc1B1KcOy1MbHeEzT5jixLKvtEkEP7Nl8dGZBOcxeC4h7AkLYIA5PL2j8CaszrpALlNdJkuCdwLANnQL9zmkpv3xJx3WkdHBxe5Tx1qRMelkpdcmLGMO3P1Flo8Vd3H3g2hZ64iPrsp/w501-h349/twi.png" width="501" /></a></div></div><span style="font-size: large;">Like a double exposure, memories of our recent middle~of~the~night Alaskan Aurora Borealis experience merge with these starry night sky thoughts. The Aurora is a luminescent early morning vision that is the flip side of a cloud time lapse at sunset.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="419" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jpj-KE9wlU4" width="504" youtube-src-id="Jpj-KE9wlU4"></iframe></div><br /> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are things we only do once in our lifetimes. Turning 75 is one of those never-to-be duplicated experiences.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last night 14 of my friends and family gathered in celebration at Nobu, a fine Japanese restaurant looking down on Newport Harbor. Patricia called two of them "book ends". Chucky Thomas my first student genius from Foothill High School and Matthew Mori, from Montebello, my last. Georgia and Michael Litvak from my Garfield High days joined in with Jim Reed whom I've known since 1966, long before anyone else at the table. Sharon Thomas, Chuckies wife, and my family, Jason, Leandra, David, Cameron, and Samantha. Together they paint a bright canvas of my life span from my days as a young teacher to now.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jason remembered my original Sony Reel to Reel tape recorder as I put it out into the hallway at the New Age School filling the corridors with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESzlzkBuLYU">Chariots of Fire</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">More soon...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">But how did I get here? What events that have shaped the arc of my life? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Quote from the movie<i> Land</i>: "You offered me a way do die in a state of grace." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">We sat with Joyce when she took her last breaths. Her family found it impossible to visit her in the hospital, but I was there. She was a volunteer at Barbara Clark's Demonstration School during her last, preterminal year. We offered her a way do die in a state of grace.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a rare gift you can give to someone at exactly the proper moment. This should be on everyone's LifeList of experiences to have during the arc of a lifetime.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">From the movie: <i>Woman Walks Ahead </i></span><span style="font-size: large;">-Sitting Bull Quotes<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-size: large;">"Your society values people by how much you have...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">ours by how much we give away." -</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"The guards thought I was sleeping but I'd made myself into an eagle."<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Cantognake" Lakota meaning to place and hold in your heart, this moment.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">chantoganake... <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-89554183613403111142022-10-08T15:50:00.145-07:002022-12-31T21:07:38.954-08:00#3. THE AURORA BOREALIS LEGEND<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you whistle under the Northern Lights,</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>they will shift and dance for you.</b><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the 7th grade I wrote the first entries to my Life List: places to explore, people to meet, and things to experience over the arc of my lifetime. Actually, this was a homework assignment given to us during an assembly and inspired by the famed explorer <a href="https://www.johngoddard.info">John Goddard, click HERE for more.</a> I did that homework assignment life list using the Encyclopedia Britannia my mother had just bought for me and my beginners collection of National Geographics. Since those early years I have been moving down that list but cannot help adding more to do as I meet other travelers and read about far away places. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideBsBvT1YwxC4IB-2e1PRX3i-KNAD5detdg_P4I2b-aj1JlYtUICUldgfD-CxLanVQ4oM7v9icG0g0avQjJBmNamIvMBG6Px2k1y8d3I0WC55THAuaoOuRGTmD-iSOhHf0WqLa7IndNO9Ni-Jy6iZ_Z8JexOfXjWtFMDZArdwVNFirf-9ADrXV__b/s630/DIS3.png">I feel like the character depicted in the Flammarion engraving discovering the wonders beyond the heavens: click HERE.</a><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">MY LIFE LIST</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">#1 Walk Olduvai Gorge, into a steep-sided ravine where Mary Leakey discovered a skull fragment of Zinjanthropus Boisei, dubbed the "Nutcracker Man" because of his huge molars, who lived 1.75 million years ago.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">#2 Walk the Inca Trail down into the ancient city of Machu Picchu to feel the echoes of its people.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;">#3. Experience the Aurora Borealis. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">60 years it took from that day to this week at Borealis Basecamp, Latitude 60.10323 degrees North,</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> 28 miles above Fairbanks Alaska. There's a legend: if you whistle under the borealis, it will shift and dance for you.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://breathtakinglifelist.blogspot.com">#4. Click HERE for the whole list.</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since we're about to travel to Alaska...</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is it <a href="https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/historyculture/denali-origins.htm">Denali or Mount McKinley?</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3-N09WvDizK0u2aGzvl18UlhRr2RAey7taqg8Im1j8mtw_gm3cdXuNla8NmgNdSvvsMWcmqtWhhR28Jp01-6wXT5gEph5ZsAO-UCfxURsB8BTRNDkHep-o3ohhXHtqBfnSbmDbZwxA7kv-yAcWAGPIBo5m-xPIuxunpu2n2ohOCoSv_F7eLRdN8t/s1222/dene1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="1222" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3-N09WvDizK0u2aGzvl18UlhRr2RAey7taqg8Im1j8mtw_gm3cdXuNla8NmgNdSvvsMWcmqtWhhR28Jp01-6wXT5gEph5ZsAO-UCfxURsB8BTRNDkHep-o3ohhXHtqBfnSbmDbZwxA7kv-yAcWAGPIBo5m-xPIuxunpu2n2ohOCoSv_F7eLRdN8t/w840-h78/dene1.png" width="840" /></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: NPS </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's worthy of mention to note that in took 100 years of debate to change the name of Mount Mckinley back to it's original name: Denali just in time ...</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">"On the eve of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary in 2016, the
name of the highest peak in North America changed from “Mount McKinley”
to “Denali.” The timing of the change not only helped mark the agency’s
centennial, it shines a light on the long human history of the park,
and illuminates a naming debate that has lasted more than 100 years."</span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"><span>I've long thought that a similar initiative should be focused on Sagarmatha, Chomolungma (goddess mother of the world). Mount Everest is so... eurocentric. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let's engineer a renaming campaign!!!</span><br /></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cinzel;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span><span>Sagarmatha</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cinzel;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">Now back to the Borealis..<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNM9pFTl62kZXRvzk0urAIh_wBOAPpeW-hDTqqq6geGqGS-OsipCSMG-kmMnelrpHz6ca9oxrrnsudQUl7FZTGtB3R_EcZw-6xi09qY4M8DqjUG9suUvcNgQuqtMaAuzCTx2FedMFoyQvlbn9uRs7wO6JglUM3ZoOv8vaXIyncOrMv-5tlR3obTrfp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: courier; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="699" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNM9pFTl62kZXRvzk0urAIh_wBOAPpeW-hDTqqq6geGqGS-OsipCSMG-kmMnelrpHz6ca9oxrrnsudQUl7FZTGtB3R_EcZw-6xi09qY4M8DqjUG9suUvcNgQuqtMaAuzCTx2FedMFoyQvlbn9uRs7wO6JglUM3ZoOv8vaXIyncOrMv-5tlR3obTrfp=w524-h699" width="524" /></span></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">It was a wait worthy of the years, but like most expeditions, there were the stops, both planned and unplanned, along the way that gave the journey an energy and life of its own. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Here be the journal of that journey between September 27, 2022 and October 10th.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large; text-align: left;">The 10 DAY BOREALIS EXPEDITION <span style="font-size: x-small;">on a single page.</span><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpnrAQ7a480NwHWv-GF5FoOFIHQomRhsc7Xg7CyHmux2PiCGeAyrS2fU3McWvDne3i7jwUXFKRI7_pcNWeP_F0UXFA9QlVl-rVjYB-oIn-X8dzHLHCsjHYD-pxr3xP4MCvSULeXK7tm9NwVTuzHu7rHrZ8U9Wx0r6NeJgi0c3If33GBQ5HI50cE57/s3667/expeditionPlan.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3667" data-original-width="2814" height="699" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpnrAQ7a480NwHWv-GF5FoOFIHQomRhsc7Xg7CyHmux2PiCGeAyrS2fU3McWvDne3i7jwUXFKRI7_pcNWeP_F0UXFA9QlVl-rVjYB-oIn-X8dzHLHCsjHYD-pxr3xP4MCvSULeXK7tm9NwVTuzHu7rHrZ8U9Wx0r6NeJgi0c3If33GBQ5HI50cE57/w537-h699/expeditionPlan.jpg" width="537" /></a></div><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">We land at Ted Stevens </span><span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Anchorage International Airport. <span style="font-size: x-small;">Senator <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ted-Stevens">Ted Stevens</a> served the citizens of Alaska 40 years</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span> </span></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Below photo credit: Jaeseop Song</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsqFEWG4sI51wd18TF-HHAyUJnON7m0LnQ6xaRou5qaIaa_fdWhGliyrCrs9eDmJe8onzkfBRCAAfh-vZ1MeIfXL14SA8DygMWs4ImOCw3Sa9PXOkA7ove3kpKotox42zSiB0Wrl9BHZ4a_XShNaRUwYQ8lJ4H9_fxX1MB6Oyoa4K9NPkdiDU7kf_l" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="654" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsqFEWG4sI51wd18TF-HHAyUJnON7m0LnQ6xaRou5qaIaa_fdWhGliyrCrs9eDmJe8onzkfBRCAAfh-vZ1MeIfXL14SA8DygMWs4ImOCw3Sa9PXOkA7ove3kpKotox42zSiB0Wrl9BHZ4a_XShNaRUwYQ8lJ4H9_fxX1MB6Oyoa4K9NPkdiDU7kf_l=w510-h341" width="510" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier; text-align: center;">Arrangements had been made for 4 days at the Aleyska Resort a few miles from Anchorage, in the little town of Girdwood Alaska.</span><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I'd return in a New York heartbeat especially for a family ski trip.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">Though our Borealis Expedition had many parts, they are placed solidly in context by the pristine clarity of the documentary below. It weaves many stories into our journey, the Anthabaskans, caribou, salmon, wood bison, black-taided deer, musk ox, grizzly bears, bull elk Klondike gold, all within the story of the Yukon River. Take a look.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="469" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/krV7g8yUrO0" width="564" youtube-src-id="krV7g8yUrO0"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">Day 5: Walking along 2nd Street in downtown Fairbanks we meet an engaging native elder, Anne, a river of wisdom and experience and kindness tending to her store: Beads and Things. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh9Ki5wgHyFJbj8XSpVH_DJIiK4BAUsU1l2dt2kDHndXr_p0HyBx6xglpCTmoNSJnaEbuJg4ebAUIVlFSfkZLv2TQi8Gu2MxNjeOs8Z1KhrxRjIyivEPDPjGKtm6z_8dwVj4D5DJJUO581RXt2g_2zZ8UvAQdVP_fAZNRc8kKnYOI8I4RIqHRekVc/s1125/anne.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1125" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh9Ki5wgHyFJbj8XSpVH_DJIiK4BAUsU1l2dt2kDHndXr_p0HyBx6xglpCTmoNSJnaEbuJg4ebAUIVlFSfkZLv2TQi8Gu2MxNjeOs8Z1KhrxRjIyivEPDPjGKtm6z_8dwVj4D5DJJUO581RXt2g_2zZ8UvAQdVP_fAZNRc8kKnYOI8I4RIqHRekVc/w529-h284/anne.jpg" width="529" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">She is a native Anthabaskan from Stevens Village less than a day away. She radiates a purity from living in the arctic according to its laws, steeped in her culture, a strong sense of honor, and strength of body and mind required for life under the Northern Lights. Later, we are standing outside, when another elder walks by, she greets him with a broad smile and tells him: "Will you dance with me?" His face radiates a shy happiness from her kind flirtation. Though I came to Alaska for the Northern Lights, I found the luminous treasure in Anne from Stevens. Click on the video link below and listen to her wisdom.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BhiNgIR52xY" width="499" youtube-src-id="BhiNgIR52xY"></iframe></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Holding her hands together Anne told us: </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">"Take care of each other.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Because we are all one family."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">"When someone died Grandma would say Abah, she hurt." Anne has taught us the first word of our Anthabaskan vocabulary. </span></span><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">Her 47 year old son, Ron Gossal Junior, is the artist who designed this hoodie which Patricia quickly scoops up to show her design student in Santa Ana California. <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">Day 8: We meet the tall and lean Carl Ray Erhart up at Borealis Base camp who lives that same extraordinary and rich close-to-the-earth Koikan Anthabaskan way of living. He was born in Tanana Village 130 miles west of Fairbanks.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">"My parents raised me on a totally subsistence life style... fishing in the summer, trapping in the winter. Dogs were our transportation. If you go to the Discovery Channel and look up Yukon Men, that's all about the people in my village.<a href="<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F214130832872%2Fvideos%2F608521132942358%2F&show_text=true&width=560&t=38" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>">Mushing</a></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Qu4PckGzmK4">Click HERE for Carl Erhart in his own words.</a> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zDG8KqtkxQf6e2hQoPo3_YaFdMiZK1kaap063sHWH21a7YJldNDJl-deMyTx7Sc6B0JOE4Cl2-dY-nUYpYULedqdEro5UC9xpxfcYs5yIMmiMLSqfUstx0PICdj-EZNB07XQM2_hOeP8FvZgV2YnqrQ5qq4RhxyxFGSq2Et3PE0DlVx0BkligQPX/s1197/carl.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1197" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zDG8KqtkxQf6e2hQoPo3_YaFdMiZK1kaap063sHWH21a7YJldNDJl-deMyTx7Sc6B0JOE4Cl2-dY-nUYpYULedqdEro5UC9xpxfcYs5yIMmiMLSqfUstx0PICdj-EZNB07XQM2_hOeP8FvZgV2YnqrQ5qq4RhxyxFGSq2Et3PE0DlVx0BkligQPX/w534-h502/carl.jpg" width="534" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">He is a competitive musher with his own team of sled dogs which he races when the snow comes. We learn about him and his way of life as he tours us on his sled, his dogs pulling eagerly on there harnesses. He is very attentive to their needs, their health well cared for as their lives are interdependent.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">It's about the adventure and living life. I try to live each day and not worry about... money and that 'kind of stuff'.<br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">The
tour company Riverboat Discovery sponsors my kennel, they do a stern
wheeler tour to the Chena River Village. It's a real genuine experience
of what natives do to survive here with real Koikon Anthabaskans giving
the tour." </span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">More about Carl coming soon.</span></span><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;">To double our chances of experiencing the Aurora Borealis, we reserved two nights in a dome at <a href="https://www.borealisbasecamp.net/homepage?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkt6aBhDKARIsAAyeLJ2b_DPoDPp8ozkCwTOfsj4Gp7WgJ1BNy49Chcci5d3zEGDYnpMH6nEaAj55EALw_wcB">BOREALIS BASECAMP</a>. After dinner and a short walk we fell into a cozy sleep under a starry canopy: the Alaskan night sky... then awakened to a chime (a service to clients who which to be notified when the borealis appears). See the 3 photos below. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dome photo courtesy Borealis Basecamp</span><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrJLFK1fEdqPVqcCCtrIfSUMCL-1t6Qvi-9yeMRYjcOo_Kl0SUhe5Xx010DUty714l6lAdooakDOzuuWF-YfFUYrA2K4yrMa3wJNd4OnHFjc20Ukxyb0nmnXORuuc8Ky_9EZFauv_FR5u4wYUEGqMGuHl-Zc2yKEzLzdhi5thQiblb742cYkYymmU/s1068/DOME1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1068" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrJLFK1fEdqPVqcCCtrIfSUMCL-1t6Qvi-9yeMRYjcOo_Kl0SUhe5Xx010DUty714l6lAdooakDOzuuWF-YfFUYrA2K4yrMa3wJNd4OnHFjc20Ukxyb0nmnXORuuc8Ky_9EZFauv_FR5u4wYUEGqMGuHl-Zc2yKEzLzdhi5thQiblb742cYkYymmU/w505-h475/DOME1.png" width="505" /></a></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmZG_wRdz38JO1To-Bw14Tavm7iMYepsZ_fsQPnknxAhT9CqPA1uFmpOvdNYs8sIQm-c4s1GxOGM_ucL6Vyq5Bc3AvdYTkVs6O5SZSCW7EkG5xPQ49nDuqeE7M_s9ONv_J4zoPmMBHF8Uxc5r1uHbmpwlkxBvQ3P-qWK4Eoq-gcHxs3pyGpkpGO0a-" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmZG_wRdz38JO1To-Bw14Tavm7iMYepsZ_fsQPnknxAhT9CqPA1uFmpOvdNYs8sIQm-c4s1GxOGM_ucL6Vyq5Bc3AvdYTkVs6O5SZSCW7EkG5xPQ49nDuqeE7M_s9ONv_J4zoPmMBHF8Uxc5r1uHbmpwlkxBvQ3P-qWK4Eoq-gcHxs3pyGpkpGO0a-=w504-h378" width="504" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmZG_wRdz38JO1To-Bw14Tavm7iMYepsZ_fsQPnknxAhT9CqPA1uFmpOvdNYs8sIQm-c4s1GxOGM_ucL6Vyq5Bc3AvdYTkVs6O5SZSCW7EkG5xPQ49nDuqeE7M_s9ONv_J4zoPmMBHF8Uxc5r1uHbmpwlkxBvQ3P-qWK4Eoq-gcHxs3pyGpkpGO0a-" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #660000; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Inuit believed the aurora to be the torches of spirits illuminating a pathway to heaven for souls of people who died.**</span></span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdqJFZFXvNAoh-Q4VqxQwFfUIWRL2pR1opCQFlhTQJL_q9Xuu9wDdmkpM2-Uwzd4J4DLPxUNaDuc25KY46pURc5Y3et2qZerJFlSmhPi4xzp9CjYGoc_ZxxqUS3UoWm11PFlblwxDWfgwCXV7QlhgAAVvivjVGqVJT78cG2HVx_MxRMCQNJsgcD7IG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdqJFZFXvNAoh-Q4VqxQwFfUIWRL2pR1opCQFlhTQJL_q9Xuu9wDdmkpM2-Uwzd4J4DLPxUNaDuc25KY46pURc5Y3et2qZerJFlSmhPi4xzp9CjYGoc_ZxxqUS3UoWm11PFlblwxDWfgwCXV7QlhgAAVvivjVGqVJT78cG2HVx_MxRMCQNJsgcD7IG=w498-h374" width="498" /></a></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">** From https://www.saltwire.com/newfoundland-labrador/opinion/whistling-at-the-northern-lights-135097/ </span></p></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/legends-of-the-northern-lights">Click HERE: the Northern Lights in the voice of Dene Elder Jonas Antoine</a>. The Dene people are a First Nations indigenous group inhabiting the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://capturetheatlas.com/northern-lights-forecast/">Click HERE for a Northern Lights Forecast</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://capturetheatlas.com/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights/">Click HERE for how to Photograph the Borealis</a> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">As in all my voyages of exploration and discovery, I returned with more questions than were answered on the journey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">#1 What is the Anthabaskan term for the aurora borealis.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">#2 When the Yukon River freezes over hows does that warm the hearts of native people. I have a clue from two junior high kids while on a expedition to Utqiagvik, the northern most point in the United States.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrY0WfnVwITUqo43B3rDy1ZOVXGt-3A847Lnta_Oe3s7ObSW86HZJYhOdXJhKurqbsZDCeDMvnoyOFW93W1uWSeOMrUAxc-rudhN9BF1C9DSgVlzNIBNYLwoOuIeN6FO5J8ZZtPb1QohaNrHbJBrP5GqgfW5mvlm724NDZD4wZ6R9F3JUa2pt0aMt/s711/ice.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="711" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrY0WfnVwITUqo43B3rDy1ZOVXGt-3A847Lnta_Oe3s7ObSW86HZJYhOdXJhKurqbsZDCeDMvnoyOFW93W1uWSeOMrUAxc-rudhN9BF1C9DSgVlzNIBNYLwoOuIeN6FO5J8ZZtPb1QohaNrHbJBrP5GqgfW5mvlm724NDZD4wZ6R9F3JUa2pt0aMt/w609-h331/ice.png" width="609" /></a></div><br /><div id="xoBJY_35B86jkPIP_66t6AM__23" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><div class="wDYxhc NFQFxe viOShc LKPcQc" data-md="25" style="clear: none;"><div aria-level="3" class="HwtpBd gsrt PZPZlf kTOYnf" data-hveid="CCIQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwj99LyJheD6AhXOEUQIHX9XCz0QtwcoAHoECCIQAA" role="heading"><div class="Z0LcW AZCkJd d2J77b t2b5Cf" data-tts-text="Utqiagvik" data-tts="answers"><div class="IZ6rdc"> </div><div class="IZ6rdc"><div class="credit-caption">A Photo credit: <span aria-label="Image credit" class="credit">Al Grillo/AP </span>Resident of the town formerly known as Barrow, Alaska,
rides her motorcycle along an Arctic Ocean beach in 2005. The town is
now officially called Utqiagvik, its Inupiaq name.
</div>Utqiagvik</div></div><div class="yxAsKe"></div></div></div></div><div id="xoBJY_35B86jkPIP_66t6AM__24" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><div class="wDYxhc" data-md="61" style="clear: none;"><div aria-level="3" class="LGOjhe" data-attrid="wa:/description" data-hveid="CCYQAA" role="heading"><span class="ILfuVd NA6bn" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">"The town is now officially called <b>Utqiagvik</b>,
its Inupiaq name. The northernmost community in the United States has
officially restored its original name. In October, the people of the
Alaskan town formerly known as Barrow, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean,
voted to restore its indigenous name, Utqiagvik.</span></span><span class="kX21rb ZYHQ7e">" October, 2016</span></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/01/503979353/barrow-alaska-changes-its-name-back-to-its-original-utqiagvik">Click HERE for why we changed our town's name.</a><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-51846305895117128552022-05-01T15:08:00.004-07:002022-10-24T10:23:44.339-07:00THE CONGO<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Long on my list: photographing the gorillas of the Congo. I read Daniel Quinn's very moving novel: Instinct which was made into a stirring movie starring Anthony Hopkins as an anthropologist studying mountain gorillas in the Congo.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklMQ3BEZVJ0uWS6z1cNjeB49EwZPoXuNwIi-76_Oyp0fDiQDdm29Mf2GtOl0a6MvBYgd2UK0J4D_kN7nJiC6KCSYqN5TKyp-icpucbADXw-fDAeUZnOWg8yuMgujgJLC3Q_9NTSSCqU8G54_OS0DK32X8XKzxRSMESnRmmiKAeiwdjuxBJl19o7sW/s653/gorilla1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="653" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklMQ3BEZVJ0uWS6z1cNjeB49EwZPoXuNwIi-76_Oyp0fDiQDdm29Mf2GtOl0a6MvBYgd2UK0J4D_kN7nJiC6KCSYqN5TKyp-icpucbADXw-fDAeUZnOWg8yuMgujgJLC3Q_9NTSSCqU8G54_OS0DK32X8XKzxRSMESnRmmiKAeiwdjuxBJl19o7sW/w509-h307/gorilla1.png" width="509" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: https://www.virungaparkcongo.com/information/gorilla-trekking-africa/</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">My wife Patricia had a Design student a few years ago that one day will be a renowned travel photographer: Elissa Title. She recently took a gorilla trek.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="http://globetrotting-elissa.blogspot.com/2022/03/gorilla-redemption.html">Click HERE for Elissa's safari to photograph Gorillas in the mist.</a></span><br /></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Instinct
(1999) is an American psychological thriller worth watching and
starring Cuba Gooding, and Donald Sutherland with Anthony Hopkins. This
film was loosely based on Daniel Quinn's novel <i>Ishmael </i>(also worth a read).</span></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-72692559676897682092020-07-22T11:54:00.028-07:002022-02-19T13:45:51.161-08:00“The Most Beautiful Places On Earth”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYrOP80suYwQPlfQ9wWyOUtQhTmGPI1bKyaHxWUzpUw4XsqEWEupxqGtY86F1ttr2OdYeaTRHZ1D0MJ8RT2TKLMxL6sdEvaHWDAwXPNlp5fpseMAg5fA3zXl487L1tXaYBBbXIbUOEbg/s1600/Picture+3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYrOP80suYwQPlfQ9wWyOUtQhTmGPI1bKyaHxWUzpUw4XsqEWEupxqGtY86F1ttr2OdYeaTRHZ1D0MJ8RT2TKLMxL6sdEvaHWDAwXPNlp5fpseMAg5fA3zXl487L1tXaYBBbXIbUOEbg/s1600/Picture+3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYrOP80suYwQPlfQ9wWyOUtQhTmGPI1bKyaHxWUzpUw4XsqEWEupxqGtY86F1ttr2OdYeaTRHZ1D0MJ8RT2TKLMxL6sdEvaHWDAwXPNlp5fpseMAg5fA3zXl487L1tXaYBBbXIbUOEbg/w320-h209/Picture+3.png" width="320" /></a></div>PREFACE: July, 1988 We were on an Earth Watch Expedition watching a Fijian sunset on Malolo Lai lai. After a candle lit dinner someone asked the group to “name the most beautiful places you’ve ever seen.” This was the most well traveled group I’d ever come across so I immediately opened my journal and wrote their answers, adding to the life list I started as a seventh grader. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">“Hong Kong Harbor at night, and Bora Bora, . . . “The most beautiful places on earth." -- said my well heeled dinner companions. It was July of 1988 and I was determined to experience the beauty of these new highly regarded destinations.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>
<br />Soon I was on a freighter bound for Bora Bora when I first witnessed that: “it takes a village to raise a child.” I could have flown from Papaete to Bora Bora but I’d have missed spending the night with a ship load of dancers from the outer islands including Taha’a, Huahine and Raiatea. The annual Tahitian dance competition had just ended with large families, whole villages bound for home. Performers pulled out instruments as the sun set filling the deck with enchanting Tahitian ballads. The importance of family was writ large as I watched a small child crawl onto the laps of various adults. I wondered which ones were his parents. By the time I’d counted him with seven different grownups I realized this kid knew everyone in the village, and no one would refuse taking him on their lap. “It takes a village.” Villagers began unrolling grass mats onto the freighters deck. We’d all be sleeping on the deck under a sparkling canopy of southern constellations. It was time to sleep but no one on a PA system telling people what to do. Four thousand miles into the Pacific Ocean, I was spending my first night in a <a href="https://www.unitedlanguagegroup.com/blog/polychronic-monochronic-time">polychronic</a> universe. <a href="https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/everything-time-monochronism-polychronism-orientation-6902">Click HERE for more on Chronometrics</a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>CHAPTER 1: Has anyone on their death bed ever said: "I wish I’d spent more time at the office." When my last moments are at hand, I'd like to be able to tell my grandchildren and their children, the important things I've learned along the way.<br />
<br />
I’d start with...<b>Make a list of all the wonderful, interesting, enjoyable, exciting things you want to do across the arc of your lifetime... then start doing them. For me it was to </b></div><div><b>1. Walk Mary Leakey’s steps along Olduvai Gorge where she found the remains of our earliest ancestors. </b>Yes, it was Mary not Louis that picked up those first bone fragments. It would take me nearly five more decades to arrive in Nairobi, on my way to find Mary’s footprints on the history of Africa. </div><div><b>2. Jump out of an airplane, and fly like an eagle until my parachute carries me on a bold and uplifting wind to places where the signposts are unfamiliar. </b></div><div><b>3... see the rest of my list. <span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>> </b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>> </b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>> </b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>> </b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>></b><br />
<br />
<br />
Make your LIFE LIST. While you do, let me tell you a story.<br />
<br />
As a 7th grader, after listening to renowned explorer John Goddard, I began to build my list not knowing the passing years to the day I’d begin actualizing those dreams. It would be a decade before I’d jump out of that plane.<br />
<br />
It was 1960 that John Goddard presented his Amazon Adventure Film Documentary at an assembly at my school, Luther Burbank Junior High. Goddard, solo, had taken a long canoe down the length of the Amazon River. What a story teller! His documentary was a narrative of his journey. While sleeping one night in his long boat, while anchored on the river, he was attacked by a giant Amazon anaconda. Wrapped in the constricting death grip of this larger than a man predator, and with only one arm free, he grabbed a machete and hacked at his nemesis until he lost consciousness. Still wrapped in giant Anaconda coils, he awakened hours later to find dead his attacker.<br />
Follow this link to his website.<br />
http://www.johngoddard.info/<br />
<br />
Afterward, Mr. Goddard descended the stage for a Q & A. Standing just two rows before me, in an almost whisper he spoke these words: “Make a list of all the things you want to do during your lifetime, then set about doing them.”<br />
<br />
That night, inspired by Goddard’s philosophy and his sense of adventure, I pulled my National Geographic collection off the self and along with my Encyclopaedia Britannica, began work on my personal LIFE list. <b><span style="font-size: medium;">--- </span>></b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfUjzdHeswHVh4yO7wIBJZ5wFNNmCBBqMmLloy07k8CyPYUXw2pWg6s1t51iw_PBuOwdCM60Q3FEiua0MGg1Yk6CDD3GfNwy_2pn0XuCEryEwPBOWTWjqEwRk7CdIfNt4V6i46OJGUDE/s1600/Olduvai.png"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfUjzdHeswHVh4yO7wIBJZ5wFNNmCBBqMmLloy07k8CyPYUXw2pWg6s1t51iw_PBuOwdCM60Q3FEiua0MGg1Yk6CDD3GfNwy_2pn0XuCEryEwPBOWTWjqEwRk7CdIfNt4V6i46OJGUDE/s400/Olduvai.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Years later I divided my life list into two catagories: 1. the things that require a measure of stamina like climbing Kilimanjaro, skiing the Alps, or mounting an expedition to Olduvai Gorge and 2. those less athletic activities for later in life like wandering the galleries of the Louvre or visiting Venus de Milo or wondering about the mind of Michaelangelo before his 17 foot tall marble masterpiece David at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, or walking Japanese village streets ‘neath cherry trees heavy and pregnant in full blossom.<br />
<br />
An excellent plan had I. While I never reached the top of Mount Everest, I am looking forward to the Colosso di Rodi (the Colossus of Rhodes), in Greece and treasures closer to home like Off Broadway in New York City. I’ve always wanted a romantic trip to Trevi Fountain from the 1954 movie Three Coins in the Fountain. Now I have someone I treasure, to share the romance of Trevi, Cinque Terra, perhaps then, on to Paris, Papaeete, Kyoto, Florence ...<br />
<br />
So many things to do in a lifetime, so many ways to find ourselves.<br />
Though no one previously suggested placing: “have grandchildren” on my LIFE LIST, I certainly do now that I have two. It is a remarkable experience.<br />
Family is good place to start.<br />
My grown children Leandra, and Jason, have come to possess such remarkable qualities. I never imagined I'd admire them so.<br />
<br />
Lea has also brought two breath taking treasures into my life: Samantha, first grandchild and Cameron, first grandson. Since I was a first grandchild I’ve come to understand why my grandparents were so loving, kind and tender with me. There was never a moment in my childhood that lacked for affection.<br />
There was always a lap and a warm and comforting embrace waiting for me. I felt …<br />
unconditional love and it has shaped the person I am today and the man I’ll come to be in the future.<br />
<br />
Along the arc of my life, I've included stops along my LIFE'S LIST, and I encourage each of you to stop what you are doing by listing five things to start your LIFE LIST.<br />
<br />
Here's one from mine . . .<br />
<br />
<br />
Watching a gorgeous golden, glittering on South Pacific water-setting sun,<br />
a group of extremely well traveled American’s were having dinner with me<br />
on the little Fijian island: Malolo lai lai.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisxkKEDqOBZCdaa_It2Yk0n8v8b0uwqw8rBs_rARjzMfCVqq5g-bHOpNJ30v73fpaE3D5o6CRxGC1b5wWAeE9woqkgV9SGTF_sFYncGmH-0VF2wbvPJqajs2WHjDI8_82UL0ok5wK_LM/s1600/Picture+11.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisxkKEDqOBZCdaa_It2Yk0n8v8b0uwqw8rBs_rARjzMfCVqq5g-bHOpNJ30v73fpaE3D5o6CRxGC1b5wWAeE9woqkgV9SGTF_sFYncGmH-0VF2wbvPJqajs2WHjDI8_82UL0ok5wK_LM/s400/Picture+11.png" width="400" /></a></div>
We were on an Earth Watch Expedition to study coral growth and recovery in the months following a hurricane. A year before, a hurricane <br />
had scrubbed away the reef surrounding Malolo lai lai. Mornings and afternoons we mapped the reef and collected data, evenings we enjoyed sunset dinner by candle light.<br />
One evening after dinner while watching sunlight play off the water <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(see photo)</span> we settled into a discussion about the most beautiful places in the world. Being so young, I jotted down a few quick notes.<br />
<br />
"Bora Bora is the most beautiful place on Earth." said one very well heeled traveler.<br />
"Hong Kong harbor at night." added another,<br />
and on into the twilight did they share their stories.<br />
<br />
Bora Bora went to the top of my Lifetime List.<br />
And I agree, when I finally arrived many years later, it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, 17 shades of lagoon blue as our freighter threaded the fringing reefs, but what made it an extra ordinary experience . . .</div><div>the incomparably gentle people of the Tahitian archipelago.<br />
<br />
From Papaete, most visitors take a small plane to Bora Bora,<br />
Being that Tahiti is one of the most expensive places to visit<br />
and that I had only a humble teacher's income,<br />
I discovered a local freighter that cut a route between Papaete, Huahine, Taha'a, Raiatea, and Bora Bora. "Take a grass woven beach mat." I was advised, "You'll be sleeping under the stars on the steel deck of that freighter."<br />
<br />
Of the three freighters, take the "Hawaiki Nui”, the best, by a long shot but not a honeymoon voyage.<br />
<br />
That overnight freighter trip introduced me to the wonderful people of Bora Bora who were returning home after their all island dance competition in Papaete.<br />
<br />
Watching the sun set,<br />
and twilight paint the sky,<br />
we prepared for the evening as the local people<br />
sang softly in the evening breeze. . . . . .<br />
<br />
It takes a Village.<br />
Each island carries to this annual competition it’s children’s dance groups, adult dancers, and musicians, and on that South Pacific dreamy night, a few musicians strummed their instruments while a soft chorus of voices floated across the deck.<br />
Listening, relaxing with each resonant note, I watched a three year old boy climb into his mother’s, and later his father’s lap.<br />
Such a charming and handsome lad, I noticed how he was warmly embraced as he continued to gather the affection of so many adults that I began to wonder, which one’s were his actual parents.<br />
And there<br />
was I struck by the epiphany:<br />
Here, in Tahiti, in Bora Bora,<br />
it takes a village to raise a child.<br />
I see it now, that little boy felt that each of those adults loved him,<br />
cared for him.<br />
That each was a parent to him.<br />
Therein lies the magic,<br />
the beauty of Bora Bora.<br />
<br />
Over the communications loud speaker, our Captain notified tourists:<br />
“For those interested, we’ll be sailing into Bora Bora’s lagoon at sunrise:<br />
an experience well worth the early hour."<br />
<br />
Under a breathless canopy of a South Pacific Starry Starry Night,<br />
songs and faint laughter floated on a cool breeze, families began unrolling grass mats onto the expansive steel deck. I unrolled my mat and gazed up at the Southern Cross. A family from Bora Bora quietly moved in next to me.<br />
A southern sky shooting star, was the last thing I remember before falling asleep.<br />
I awakened just after 5 am wanting to be on the bow when we sailed into Bora Bora.<br />
From the grass mat of the family next to me, a four year old, in his sleep had drifted on to my mat and was warmly snuggled in by my side. I was forever charmed by the gentleness, authenticity and tenderness of these people.<br />
I'd become part of the village it takes to raise a child.<br />
Moving ever so quietly, and oh so slowly, I rose from the sleeping child on my mat and made way to the bow under early morning light.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5z2VKTCwLYFXn5ww4DcawGhVupLF_EpmSBsvsKgoD69JTIafNXz0DUJmu2XN56bfzS-usEZa42r5BdojYhcdmtzr9GAn_V32YSnbQgof9oc672bklnF5tqV9TyWr6_lN1KTqFqTkcpFA/s1600/Picture+1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5z2VKTCwLYFXn5ww4DcawGhVupLF_EpmSBsvsKgoD69JTIafNXz0DUJmu2XN56bfzS-usEZa42r5BdojYhcdmtzr9GAn_V32YSnbQgof9oc672bklnF5tqV9TyWr6_lN1KTqFqTkcpFA/s400/Picture+1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Off to the distant eastern horizon lay Bora Bora emergent from the night, eager for the dawn.<br />
<br />
The captain from his pilot house expertly piloted his lumbering freighter into Bora Bora's fringing barrier reef's winding channels, I watched from the bow. At his first slow turn starboard, a stunning American expatriate quietly joined me on the bow, her hair lifted softly by cool morning's breeze. She was beautiful but lost, at first she seemed like an actress who'd run away from Hollywood's madness. She invited us to join her for lunch at the Hotel Bora Bora.<br />
<br />
But I could not take my eyes long from<br />
the 17 shades of breathtaking lagoon blue as we plied reef's waters,<br />
bow waves lapping below<br />
while the captain made way for landing.<br />
<br />
It's true,<br />
the old sailor's myth<br />
"the gates of heaven<br />
'b hidden somewhere in the South Pacific."<br />
<br />
Heavenly waters,<br />
heavenly island,<br />
and loving<br />
gentle people.<br />
Paradise found.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Below, is a video clip link that includes scenes from Tahiti and French Polynesia.<br />
<br />
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KxvaTIH064<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KxvaTIH064"></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuDnQS311J7_Si3v6kehIIlAFsiZiRNG3UgLH79c0XrDHjZJQYiJwoqTwzNKXWw-3REs6Nqf79OBjn7SQ6sDrzhrl8qIpRChhFZ7jY9ueuDKFS-fcgsRsnrhwhr93ibKI5OrZdXGu0us/s1600/Picture+3.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuDnQS311J7_Si3v6kehIIlAFsiZiRNG3UgLH79c0XrDHjZJQYiJwoqTwzNKXWw-3REs6Nqf79OBjn7SQ6sDrzhrl8qIpRChhFZ7jY9ueuDKFS-fcgsRsnrhwhr93ibKI5OrZdXGu0us/s320/Picture+3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
No one ever complained from their death bed: "I wish I'd spent more time at the office."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Ah. Remembering my 2006 pilgrimage to meditate with the Great Buddha of Nara Japan . .<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfsDCibuhJp9EO7Cn9SMQpjOEd1FuhcVCvYhT91RPi3vhB3Llr6_dhXbTLqgKQ2G5Wj8XgpfR3OPLyprCvDDIy8hxLI19D8mkH6oZEI7WcfFQ4236hvhrKBRqOhsB6nCj5Sbt_uoKlw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-03-21+at+12.31.02+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfsDCibuhJp9EO7Cn9SMQpjOEd1FuhcVCvYhT91RPi3vhB3Llr6_dhXbTLqgKQ2G5Wj8XgpfR3OPLyprCvDDIy8hxLI19D8mkH6oZEI7WcfFQ4236hvhrKBRqOhsB6nCj5Sbt_uoKlw/s400/Screen+shot+2012-03-21+at+12.31.02+PM.png" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfsDCibuhJp9EO7Cn9SMQpjOEd1FuhcVCvYhT91RPi3vhB3Llr6_dhXbTLqgKQ2G5Wj8XgpfR3OPLyprCvDDIy8hxLI19D8mkH6oZEI7WcfFQ4236hvhrKBRqOhsB6nCj5Sbt_uoKlw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-03-21+at+12.31.02+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfsDCibuhJp9EO7Cn9SMQpjOEd1FuhcVCvYhT91RPi3vhB3Llr6_dhXbTLqgKQ2G5Wj8XgpfR3OPLyprCvDDIy8hxLI19D8mkH6oZEI7WcfFQ4236hvhrKBRqOhsB6nCj5Sbt_uoKlw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-03-21+at+12.31.02+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">And for the future: </span><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small; line-height: 12.8px;">Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0iI5IYhDH0RMRTyWAuhrUaYidcqgWFcppv6tPrZncE0ABOaFMIzKvDTOLESLAUpQcZft1yAeDWSwd6BIkN0EWAutm2UlDTmyJMbMBCL7fqKG9amOA9Y4FXf_5m2-gbBg-C_g9w3q7RI/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-01-25+at+7.31.03+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0iI5IYhDH0RMRTyWAuhrUaYidcqgWFcppv6tPrZncE0ABOaFMIzKvDTOLESLAUpQcZft1yAeDWSwd6BIkN0EWAutm2UlDTmyJMbMBCL7fqKG9amOA9Y4FXf_5m2-gbBg-C_g9w3q7RI/s640/Screen+shot+2013-01-25+at+7.31.03+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small; line-height: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://youtu.be/eEW2tQLNpGA">LIFE LIST: LASSA (click HERE for Six Minutes in Tibet)</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDU1xImCYWU1Xgj3o9zcvYlVj9P7m988pRAd6DqGcBQ5hzDW8TPmj2bujX0XQOpwk9pjCFsCQccfFDQWjPnA94bFZTxZtDJhpmIkjURbeSn4LxkAbLIYrFukL_rfcnOiJKUcJ70IOPOg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-02+at+12.02.18+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDU1xImCYWU1Xgj3o9zcvYlVj9P7m988pRAd6DqGcBQ5hzDW8TPmj2bujX0XQOpwk9pjCFsCQccfFDQWjPnA94bFZTxZtDJhpmIkjURbeSn4LxkAbLIYrFukL_rfcnOiJKUcJ70IOPOg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-02+at+12.02.18+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDU1xImCYWU1Xgj3o9zcvYlVj9P7m988pRAd6DqGcBQ5hzDW8TPmj2bujX0XQOpwk9pjCFsCQccfFDQWjPnA94bFZTxZtDJhpmIkjURbeSn4LxkAbLIYrFukL_rfcnOiJKUcJ70IOPOg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-02+at+12.02.18+PM.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDU1xImCYWU1Xgj3o9zcvYlVj9P7m988pRAd6DqGcBQ5hzDW8TPmj2bujX0XQOpwk9pjCFsCQccfFDQWjPnA94bFZTxZtDJhpmIkjURbeSn4LxkAbLIYrFukL_rfcnOiJKUcJ70IOPOg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-02+at+12.02.18+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwMq0h_Fmlz7Fy7pTnf34x_-4Xoh4-OldhpQFvCzyKf854BSGvY75veT7-koIr8wF9ytjUgi4ekj1r4maVpPXOAZbTx2r2rkh3sMwwQoGeXtsc7H_KS8b4ztcAI0T0J0XatVBPzVsrYk/s1600/Eros.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwMq0h_Fmlz7Fy7pTnf34x_-4Xoh4-OldhpQFvCzyKf854BSGvY75veT7-koIr8wF9ytjUgi4ekj1r4maVpPXOAZbTx2r2rkh3sMwwQoGeXtsc7H_KS8b4ztcAI0T0J0XatVBPzVsrYk/s1600/Eros.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sculpt in White Carrara Marble</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4qPtAqTiqyqEffutmgeW43xny0nmUm_YsSUYFhIhlIc0v6PJqr7v7xbK-WSQMnkJX5FkuA40KwPhtD6IKrcgdVSHQKnEtIn8V779FTJQaPAfDCgFb9wE2-Sq3VMgPFejskqW40uyV0E/s1600/Kyoto.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4qPtAqTiqyqEffutmgeW43xny0nmUm_YsSUYFhIhlIc0v6PJqr7v7xbK-WSQMnkJX5FkuA40KwPhtD6IKrcgdVSHQKnEtIn8V779FTJQaPAfDCgFb9wE2-Sq3VMgPFejskqW40uyV0E/s1600/Kyoto.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Kyoto, Capital for 1,000 Years</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDU1xImCYWU1Xgj3o9zcvYlVj9P7m988pRAd6DqGcBQ5hzDW8TPmj2bujX0XQOpwk9pjCFsCQccfFDQWjPnA94bFZTxZtDJhpmIkjURbeSn4LxkAbLIYrFukL_rfcnOiJKUcJ70IOPOg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-02+at+12.02.18+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
</div>
</div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-52387169433485801772020-07-22T11:53:00.042-07:002023-02-01T16:34:30.871-08:00Walking With the Maasai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #660000; color: white; font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;">When I was 13 years old, the Olduvai Gorge and the Great Rift Valley was the first entry on Life List, a dream of walking in the footsteps of Mary Leakey, where she discovered the fossilized bone fragments of one of our most ancient human ancestors. Come back for that story. I</span></span><span style="background-color: #660000; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: white; font-family: times;">t would take over forty years to actualize that inspiration, to take it from my mind and make it happen in the real world.</span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div><span style="background-color: #660000; color: white;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2;" trbidi="on"><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #660000; color: white; font-family: times;">I finally took that journey, but planning a trip to East Africa was very different than making my life list. First step, order adventure travel catalogs. Soon one arrived that described a “Walk With The Maasai” with Iain Allen of <a href="https://www.tropical-ice.com/">Tropical Ice Adventure Travel</a> headquartered in Nairobi. What follows is that month long journey. A few months later I touch down in Nairobi, but my luggage was lost in Amsterdam. </span><span style="background-color: #660000; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: white;">It will take three days to catch up with me. </span><span style="background-color: #660000; color: white;">So I awaken to the unusual cawing of african birds and explore the city that started as a clonal railway settlement in the 1890's. Worried my luggage won't arrive by the time my safari departs, I buy a journalists jacket as cool nights are expected on the Maasai Mara.</span></div></div></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: times;">
When I remember Africa, the first images that fall from the cumulonimbus clouds of memory are the sparkling smiles of the Maasai. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">We visit a menyatta, (village),</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">surrounded by a boma (a circular wall of heavily thorned bushes).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx52BVdv4UEkMnf19IYBlxms3m9xOS2FZGy08oEpeVy1qZrA-nD79SzRFPQqs1OvOs5FvTnHSRSQBAll8S-mI2XTwof-lCF1RJXzuQtwLTiddeHw81ldGhljucXr3dgVzRTA1PKSdVdM/s2048/m6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="2048" height="439" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx52BVdv4UEkMnf19IYBlxms3m9xOS2FZGy08oEpeVy1qZrA-nD79SzRFPQqs1OvOs5FvTnHSRSQBAll8S-mI2XTwof-lCF1RJXzuQtwLTiddeHw81ldGhljucXr3dgVzRTA1PKSdVdM/w500-h439/m6.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo credit: Toby Manzanares, (all photos except as noted otherwise.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudq7VwkpRu7n0eOwaOtJakmBGfNubS-UJZRHz1FAZH3pK1iblxvadFIkmOrd48KrRZnHlguXyaQPVRL6B8ro6nAqZy8vmV3oaq35p6RgowPklJ8xcMqEtgk6Cj2AMm2N85K0EEgue1Tk/s2048/m2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="2048" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudq7VwkpRu7n0eOwaOtJakmBGfNubS-UJZRHz1FAZH3pK1iblxvadFIkmOrd48KrRZnHlguXyaQPVRL6B8ro6nAqZy8vmV3oaq35p6RgowPklJ8xcMqEtgk6Cj2AMm2N85K0EEgue1Tk/w500-h345/m2.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: times;">
Celebrating a Maasai Wedding a days drive west of Nairobi.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS0hoNOVe4RuVPeAuBi9GFNqCRztdhpnvqZ0tiNGp07Qz4vxMPIBrtIwZRmMD10fesH5SACNbuhw8IiSRdfFynYXvT_CJLahe7O1lPZ-0GZORU7W-zbTaD4vT8hOHpYt5t06ygPVgL-Oc/s2048/Maasai1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1413" data-original-width="2048" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS0hoNOVe4RuVPeAuBi9GFNqCRztdhpnvqZ0tiNGp07Qz4vxMPIBrtIwZRmMD10fesH5SACNbuhw8IiSRdfFynYXvT_CJLahe7O1lPZ-0GZORU7W-zbTaD4vT8hOHpYt5t06ygPVgL-Oc/w500-h345/Maasai1.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: times;">
We are granted permission to set up camp not far from their village, where we stay for three nights.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: times;">
Two Maasai warriors jump as high as they can for the joy and pleasure rather than in competition.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWonjvRuq6oj20e97p5IPpYBcg2AwFfRjmM_rBK-G189-iOZIdHt7T6woabbCg1Q-wLBAasSXzhMmfC3mHrmZizD0i9bJofVIJH4AhjQ7IBJ6AsMuo2xLPF68Vha_kFsCk9sZ-soz5FPw/s2048/jump1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1307" data-original-width="2048" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWonjvRuq6oj20e97p5IPpYBcg2AwFfRjmM_rBK-G189-iOZIdHt7T6woabbCg1Q-wLBAasSXzhMmfC3mHrmZizD0i9bJofVIJH4AhjQ7IBJ6AsMuo2xLPF68Vha_kFsCk9sZ-soz5FPw/w500-h319/jump1.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1M2s_dSpA_rU-Xonir9ZsyNdQLNX_8gbtmWRnpil6rgfHq8ZkSQkubM15KOb9qC89CKX5Ks5kNMBGmgy9mWHfRpz5vNCbAzYmC3H7R0mnOQYf2wKzUsG1xU0RRq9U-fCpNafxu6SHh7FLJsReWqUTbDIfU2CHWIyUwTqcG3RxdaLM6QLtLolJ7LN/s705/ele1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="660" height="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1M2s_dSpA_rU-Xonir9ZsyNdQLNX_8gbtmWRnpil6rgfHq8ZkSQkubM15KOb9qC89CKX5Ks5kNMBGmgy9mWHfRpz5vNCbAzYmC3H7R0mnOQYf2wKzUsG1xU0RRq9U-fCpNafxu6SHh7FLJsReWqUTbDIfU2CHWIyUwTqcG3RxdaLM6QLtLolJ7LN/w500-h533/ele1.png" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: Tropical Ice</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRK1y6WwJDTU7qcB-yQF4sqpuQurRHz7rBkAownkAPqiylTMt3-3ouVWovzd7Wjt-U_ie0e3OLexakIloga_khs9idrl2EWozwrj7hN4DXdnJ3FIIPiOEQQtZbq5JWvNMonTzukbXbUf0/s2048/jump2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="2048" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRK1y6WwJDTU7qcB-yQF4sqpuQurRHz7rBkAownkAPqiylTMt3-3ouVWovzd7Wjt-U_ie0e3OLexakIloga_khs9idrl2EWozwrj7hN4DXdnJ3FIIPiOEQQtZbq5JWvNMonTzukbXbUf0/w500-h330/jump2.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Prior to our departure one of our Maasai hosts asked if I’d send back photos when I got home. Back at home, I wrote to Iian Allen, our Tropical Ice guide asking if he’d give my village friends the link to this web page.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQDuWEXycZ4iBth8mxPl_o0jrjkezSSyz_HggYcMgiebFSuOuuGGwG0xHkF0GgLmKl-rkzsfhDwvYnbFkoVFo550XyrqkwMzRItD8JH21Q7qEcwVL6_edfNnQRrmXa-64uyt4Xab3SLQ/s2048/MassaiFather.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQDuWEXycZ4iBth8mxPl_o0jrjkezSSyz_HggYcMgiebFSuOuuGGwG0xHkF0GgLmKl-rkzsfhDwvYnbFkoVFo550XyrqkwMzRItD8JH21Q7qEcwVL6_edfNnQRrmXa-64uyt4Xab3SLQ/w500-h375/MassaiFather.HEIC" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cows are brought into the boma each afternoon to protect them overnight from prowling lions.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7A9pNTigYhh0Usw1hdpqv6qsbCPrBeXL9haiRW106_7dtCsU00ZTsbXi2i7BHcHVoxkTvFyUmd1gMbpo757l6LJ9yQHg55Qd_hf_Ee_dt7SkJ57MyReMLETmzGObt97ca6yzdMbAe1Y/s2048/m3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1491" data-original-width="2048" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7A9pNTigYhh0Usw1hdpqv6qsbCPrBeXL9haiRW106_7dtCsU00ZTsbXi2i7BHcHVoxkTvFyUmd1gMbpo757l6LJ9yQHg55Qd_hf_Ee_dt7SkJ57MyReMLETmzGObt97ca6yzdMbAe1Y/w500-h364/m3.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOasMper2YkOgNVtAvPly-gOzrG_CRrFwG8CQBNFStGHk6BlGAsGdMcFhsET4o6rWeOBEvQHHhkBBU0RSpTU4L6ooWJXtCj1f_N94tw8RudO2cSWfJmD9jMCCO4gQQj3OiiVhTGVu4F8o/s2048/m4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOasMper2YkOgNVtAvPly-gOzrG_CRrFwG8CQBNFStGHk6BlGAsGdMcFhsET4o6rWeOBEvQHHhkBBU0RSpTU4L6ooWJXtCj1f_N94tw8RudO2cSWfJmD9jMCCO4gQQj3OiiVhTGVu4F8o/w500-h354/m4.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Maasai wedding: the father of the bride is seated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When a teenager when he survived a lion attack. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The boy that saved his life was my Maasai guide. That story coming soon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv90sIN2vDjN9QDqT4HhYE7Cfj_1nHvvVGA5uFBgfWV4iF5GDHqyxItmFpiP9Minrtl2ew4VKAFScmxTajtbG7QdkEKfrNwhO7fe3rOmNsMp0YDmiFz-XvInVNNsDWshM6vOEUGMpW-V-ErmfQrl1EpAShoJnD59IQFRpwrXlrrt8WCOXpXzteC4rR/s699/lion1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="662" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv90sIN2vDjN9QDqT4HhYE7Cfj_1nHvvVGA5uFBgfWV4iF5GDHqyxItmFpiP9Minrtl2ew4VKAFScmxTajtbG7QdkEKfrNwhO7fe3rOmNsMp0YDmiFz-XvInVNNsDWshM6vOEUGMpW-V-ErmfQrl1EpAShoJnD59IQFRpwrXlrrt8WCOXpXzteC4rR/w495-h523/lion1.png" width="495" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: Tropical Ice</span></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCeF4ZQsRo-sD5Y6BIX162k3w4LVMbeI_anaFSRklQqrWzlfmXmLIiGIUNIwSik1PpkGSLYiHYH4kMZRAAxCeE5KnGHbjGPsXCjoWBq28FjfpFhGqw3V3HdvU2UzJQQ208LEcWiBmoIY/s2048/m5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1699" data-original-width="2048" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCeF4ZQsRo-sD5Y6BIX162k3w4LVMbeI_anaFSRklQqrWzlfmXmLIiGIUNIwSik1PpkGSLYiHYH4kMZRAAxCeE5KnGHbjGPsXCjoWBq28FjfpFhGqw3V3HdvU2UzJQQ208LEcWiBmoIY/w500-h414/m5.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx52BVdv4UEkMnf19IYBlxms3m9xOS2FZGy08oEpeVy1qZrA-nD79SzRFPQqs1OvOs5FvTnHSRSQBAll8S-mI2XTwof-lCF1RJXzuQtwLTiddeHw81ldGhljucXr3dgVzRTA1PKSdVdM/s2048/m6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="2048" height="549" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx52BVdv4UEkMnf19IYBlxms3m9xOS2FZGy08oEpeVy1qZrA-nD79SzRFPQqs1OvOs5FvTnHSRSQBAll8S-mI2XTwof-lCF1RJXzuQtwLTiddeHw81ldGhljucXr3dgVzRTA1PKSdVdM/w625-h549/m6.jpg" width="625" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAbe2PXmeyqimn_D_a_11aIVZdHYo6HzI-oHVF-YzYQ8G7TRERGsRiVvuWYSQeh8SIYDLljHmA8_IAWbPATHcaLxsx517d0YvCZEmW13dGtVqSt8fEFM3XPgwP0dqRiWjCtWqVOKg2OY/s2048/m7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1858" data-original-width="2048" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAbe2PXmeyqimn_D_a_11aIVZdHYo6HzI-oHVF-YzYQ8G7TRERGsRiVvuWYSQeh8SIYDLljHmA8_IAWbPATHcaLxsx517d0YvCZEmW13dGtVqSt8fEFM3XPgwP0dqRiWjCtWqVOKg2OY/w625-h568/m7.jpg" width="625" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Seated here is the father of the bride, childhood friends with one of our Maasai guides. When they were kids, their job was to graze and guard the village cows. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.traveller.com.au/walking-with-wildlife-in-kenya-is-the-ultimate-adventure-h29bwm">WALKING WITH THE MAASAI: A NARRATIVE click HERE</a></span></span></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
</div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-18176185411934684412020-07-22T11:53:00.004-07:002020-07-27T15:23:39.139-07:00Fiji<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-71994570504100543492020-07-22T11:52:00.052-07:002022-11-01T08:13:54.156-07:00#2 The Inca Walls of Macchu Picchu<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixgNcz2jYBq1ap5klLWHZ2j5T5iFQSV4xOKYz9mA_tm9lvFBMG4rKjMa5u11yaPESwXZAilBbe_b5PjOJLFvxNJ8Ew-gmwAy4b8z8drgshMXy5y6lfmoBaKh7Pc6LiRt6C8IDbnoAqBjArBHqCbplVeNKAzZyRhwx0VqJoIzhVrA_2Y1_-vZe7MBGm=s389" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="277" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixgNcz2jYBq1ap5klLWHZ2j5T5iFQSV4xOKYz9mA_tm9lvFBMG4rKjMa5u11yaPESwXZAilBbe_b5PjOJLFvxNJ8Ew-gmwAy4b8z8drgshMXy5y6lfmoBaKh7Pc6LiRt6C8IDbnoAqBjArBHqCbplVeNKAzZyRhwx0VqJoIzhVrA_2Y1_-vZe7MBGm=w449-h630" width="449" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Photo by Toby Manzanares<br /></div><br /><div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Inca Wall: </span><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">Engineering so precise</span></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">a sheet of paper cannot be wedged between Inca stones.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_vkhjc9QBi6U8bcrkdlEBWd7db09WL1Q9seXGctqKDY8665YNFYDW8hh_SHK8hfFF_kwXVxmr15bAK4xwCQ0i_0OLcgb_7hhg3iZONTvYPLaHO1S0gXb-UwTkJi8qgfwOX_rqVW4dY6DtHPqD1x9Pqh9IObQj8tLdviOjVjiflXTng6T7XLwLriX2=s865" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="865" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_vkhjc9QBi6U8bcrkdlEBWd7db09WL1Q9seXGctqKDY8665YNFYDW8hh_SHK8hfFF_kwXVxmr15bAK4xwCQ0i_0OLcgb_7hhg3iZONTvYPLaHO1S0gXb-UwTkJi8qgfwOX_rqVW4dY6DtHPqD1x9Pqh9IObQj8tLdviOjVjiflXTng6T7XLwLriX2=w500-h338" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During the 1940's my grandfather Federico Manzanares built our Monte Vista Colorado home from stone quarried in the San Luis Valley. He cut those stones with such precision that when I visited Cusco and walked the Inca Wall, I immediately thought of my grandfather. Solid as the Inca Wall, our home stands in testimony of his engineering skills.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;">If
Macchu Picchu is on your life list, then there is no one better that
Rosa to guide that part of your journey. Tour companies will charge you
over $5,000 for six days, but contact her directly for this
adventure.... here is her email address: COMING SOON</span></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rosa Alegria Gonzales, my extraordinary Quechua speaking guide told me of the best place to observe the great Andean condors: Colca Canyon (see the map below.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the 7th grade, when I logged Macchu Picchu into by Life List, I did not know about the condors of Colca Canyon. Now I see Colca as a must for anyone's Life List. See the trailer below. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
The Great Condors of Colca Canyon</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="428" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JcMGJZO1blc" width="514" youtube-src-id="JcMGJZO1blc"></iframe></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">We awakened early, took a quick breakfast and left immediately to arrive at the rim of Colca Canyon by sunrise. As the sun warmed the canyon, condors deep down in the canyon were soon circling on the up drafting air. As the seconds slipped by, their orbital path brought them up to eye level. Then the unexpected magic happened, a circling Andean condor flew just inches over my head, I could hear the air sliding off it's wings. It was very much worth arriving before sunrise. I'd do it again in a New York millisecond.</span></span><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdJk_5riFhwvYxR_5BpDs7uD3ACcuJcp53hmRe5aQhp_gkRbm5zSTUxfoELGKYk6562A2yORK3K_9CoVV-zInOd9a-TIfDS-5f_IkbPUFqv6JymIRN7nWDUCraBa2JDeAzYu9nGBPBV95JL6zStvXpsNB8xdWgBdQwoPgWAtoK8D_gFMbZdHYetaKv=s1051" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1051" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdJk_5riFhwvYxR_5BpDs7uD3ACcuJcp53hmRe5aQhp_gkRbm5zSTUxfoELGKYk6562A2yORK3K_9CoVV-zInOd9a-TIfDS-5f_IkbPUFqv6JymIRN7nWDUCraBa2JDeAzYu9nGBPBV95JL6zStvXpsNB8xdWgBdQwoPgWAtoK8D_gFMbZdHYetaKv=w515-h404" width="515" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">While in Peru, I learned that over 500 Species of Potato grow in Andean microbiomes. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;">In terms of world history I learned that Simón Bolivar came very close to creating the United States of South Americ</span><span style="font-family: courier;">a, seeking independence from Spain. He was highly regarded by our guides while visiting Bolivia. He would have been regarded on a level higher than George Washington. Bolivar is one of the very few people ever to have a country named after them.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
</div>Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-12353288327239152542020-07-22T11:52:00.034-07:002022-10-16T20:12:43.903-07:00Gassan Sadatoshi: Japanese Swordsmiths for 800 years.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm on a quest to find the family of the man who made my great grandfather's Samurai Sword.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A good first step is to find one of Japan's best swordsmiths... but that was not my plan. Finding Gassan was a gift from my new friends in Asuka Village and Sakura City near Nara.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">More about how this came to be... coming soon. </span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="Click HERE for more about my visit with Gassan Sadatoshi">Click HERE for more about my visit with</a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="Click HERE for more about my visit with Gassan Sadatoshi">Gassan Sadatoshi and how to visit his</a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="Click HERE for more about my visit with Gassan Sadatoshi">Sword Making Studio near Nara</a></span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
I rushed back from my pilgrimage to Hiroshima to meet one of Japan's National Living Treasures:</span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
I met Gassan Sadatoshi at his home and sword making studio in Sakura City, not far from Nara and discovered his philosophical world view: "Swords are not for fighting."</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rMomOyqwXLI" width="320" youtube-src-id="rMomOyqwXLI"></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Documentary</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxwWf-MfZVk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-62666678111610715482020-07-22T11:52:00.005-07:002020-07-27T15:22:14.800-07:00Bora Bora<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-46252519372154356772020-07-22T11:51:00.010-07:002020-09-18T16:00:18.202-07:00South Gate to Heaven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">South Gate to Heaven</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijh0r7oqJUgCzgajlp1JKpfZ4DVIRzPtPfAscNvP_nwDeCl8LWh_leUftfKr0WqMMEK90s4yJGGyU5p0UOBNO0cr_OuHqndAt7HgseIm4nYuFS7InY-fH_rIU6gOue_PucTLpbmvltiMo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="2048" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijh0r7oqJUgCzgajlp1JKpfZ4DVIRzPtPfAscNvP_nwDeCl8LWh_leUftfKr0WqMMEK90s4yJGGyU5p0UOBNO0cr_OuHqndAt7HgseIm4nYuFS7InY-fH_rIU6gOue_PucTLpbmvltiMo/w594-h395/Screen+Shot+2020-09-18+at+3.17.27+PM.png" width="594" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTbXnY7kkXRizDNW7hZ7Rc7cHIQDRgCi1bwxRmrnscixBDCRWbLEdyYp6PS9tlYOu8e2hyphenhypheny2JPFN6MDlkZgkbrSMTPhXmcRMFsxNCy4FOoEMnXbf-VEgw4gvw22ZC24aMGaJL1yvRJjc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="1559" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTbXnY7kkXRizDNW7hZ7Rc7cHIQDRgCi1bwxRmrnscixBDCRWbLEdyYp6PS9tlYOu8e2hyphenhypheny2JPFN6MDlkZgkbrSMTPhXmcRMFsxNCy4FOoEMnXbf-VEgw4gvw22ZC24aMGaJL1yvRJjc/w615-h418/Screen+Shot+2020-09-18+at+3.41.43+PM.png" width="615" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eqe58RP5ajtwo4xj4R_BQ6ERIthFZlIU_8dTv4CCK5LI6GSfl-kZk4XvzR-1jmDBvSm2Ug3UeBdxSdMcxO-Y_LtSW2iv6Lj-uF1I7vd6NTqEuVMnhx_wIHNxAwyGMNFPXwt8-mCl1ZU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="505" height="847" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eqe58RP5ajtwo4xj4R_BQ6ERIthFZlIU_8dTv4CCK5LI6GSfl-kZk4XvzR-1jmDBvSm2Ug3UeBdxSdMcxO-Y_LtSW2iv6Lj-uF1I7vd6NTqEuVMnhx_wIHNxAwyGMNFPXwt8-mCl1ZU/w494-h847/heaven+2.png" width="494" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div>and...</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Tunnel of Love ... Ukraine</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXPOM8B7-VMFuNNr0sDOrXd6JWvSSw4IAM0adzxS8e2M-9iICrmh28zml-B_RWpJ3AEbT2KeSioIXHosWz-_IS6G20EMw7_E6qtEHqxTTL0k0Xsy7LLFYONFSBrQJ2oiJky3TzZYTyNk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="506" height="648" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXPOM8B7-VMFuNNr0sDOrXd6JWvSSw4IAM0adzxS8e2M-9iICrmh28zml-B_RWpJ3AEbT2KeSioIXHosWz-_IS6G20EMw7_E6qtEHqxTTL0k0Xsy7LLFYONFSBrQJ2oiJky3TzZYTyNk/w429-h648/Tunnel+of+Love+Ukraine.png" width="429" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">From a Dream</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl9HHxrdBOrGZkJlepcR1tAOH5ATjXOdNRgVJg3hnWHKauKqT4weJY_su0pjxeE-eIpOwzpnpPpn1zS8r1POIOyHmsuncgLWkJnz1X8RXi96ButF6Wgucj3ZZIsNkCnGvU52l1d8k5Iw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="485" height="517" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl9HHxrdBOrGZkJlepcR1tAOH5ATjXOdNRgVJg3hnWHKauKqT4weJY_su0pjxeE-eIpOwzpnpPpn1zS8r1POIOyHmsuncgLWkJnz1X8RXi96ButF6Wgucj3ZZIsNkCnGvU52l1d8k5Iw/w416-h517/Screen+Shot+2020-09-18+at+3.55.08+PM.png" width="416" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-44421542121874760972020-07-22T11:48:00.019-07:002022-10-16T15:50:00.687-07:00MEET THE PEOPLE ALONG THE PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The PanAmerican Highway, 19,000 miles between Tierra Del Feugo at the sourthern most tip of Argentina and </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Prudhoe Alaska and further to the northern most tip of the United States...Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) Alaska. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My plan is to take the route in segments, walking some, driving some the distance, with the pure goal of meeting as many people along the way as there is time to enjoy with them.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZFA3dp91Tkz92J0ut9w465-prjxC_WIhS_5H1vqx-HLW8Q2iRolgeLSNE5MPk66O_2vAmjmic1FtsYOKrq2ZCmDRRiqh8GcP1znZWPc3DbDdPFs4UtM5lb5BrVW0d4Lp7R711V3wKZzJAEwWp9_BbDvYv_3pStLijP4N_aU-ShEcoTuhWde14Wlx/s661/panam.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="469" height="751" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZFA3dp91Tkz92J0ut9w465-prjxC_WIhS_5H1vqx-HLW8Q2iRolgeLSNE5MPk66O_2vAmjmic1FtsYOKrq2ZCmDRRiqh8GcP1znZWPc3DbDdPFs4UtM5lb5BrVW0d4Lp7R711V3wKZzJAEwWp9_BbDvYv_3pStLijP4N_aU-ShEcoTuhWde14Wlx/w532-h751/panam.png" width="532" /></a></div><br /> <br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As of October 2022 I've completed the following segments: </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* Fairbanks north </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* Fairbanks to </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">White Horse</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* Denver to Ciudad Juarez</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* Mexico City</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* Lima</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAXM9L0ataf042UB1EtQ5gJUUu4DwlOpf7pfL56UVm_bxZq8Zf5DB8ZjyeCd75o0I9MEZK1u_YDKiwqF1o4AiIS5hm0IA7lv974CFFr8J2odCKSfBoOJJRhzhihSX0QSm6DePZSsGPBKY95YqRqZkl8Br1aqmWYaul2ZSpYvrlWKk5kJyG_W9--za/s1075/panam2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="990" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAXM9L0ataf042UB1EtQ5gJUUu4DwlOpf7pfL56UVm_bxZq8Zf5DB8ZjyeCd75o0I9MEZK1u_YDKiwqF1o4AiIS5hm0IA7lv974CFFr8J2odCKSfBoOJJRhzhihSX0QSm6DePZSsGPBKY95YqRqZkl8Br1aqmWYaul2ZSpYvrlWKk5kJyG_W9--za/w529-h574/panam2.png" width="529" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Next?</span></span></div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-63591429148847764382020-07-22T11:47:00.005-07:002022-10-24T10:17:37.330-07:00Gorillas In The Mist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Long
on my list: Photo Safari to the Gorillas of the Congo. I read Daniel
Quinn's very moving novel: <i>Instinct</i>* which was made into a stirring movie
starring Anthony Hopkins as an anthropologist studying mountain
gorillas in the Congo (sufficient inspiration to add this to my Life List).<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklMQ3BEZVJ0uWS6z1cNjeB49EwZPoXuNwIi-76_Oyp0fDiQDdm29Mf2GtOl0a6MvBYgd2UK0J4D_kN7nJiC6KCSYqN5TKyp-icpucbADXw-fDAeUZnOWg8yuMgujgJLC3Q_9NTSSCqU8G54_OS0DK32X8XKzxRSMESnRmmiKAeiwdjuxBJl19o7sW/s653/gorilla1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="653" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklMQ3BEZVJ0uWS6z1cNjeB49EwZPoXuNwIi-76_Oyp0fDiQDdm29Mf2GtOl0a6MvBYgd2UK0J4D_kN7nJiC6KCSYqN5TKyp-icpucbADXw-fDAeUZnOWg8yuMgujgJLC3Q_9NTSSCqU8G54_OS0DK32X8XKzxRSMESnRmmiKAeiwdjuxBJl19o7sW/w509-h307/gorilla1.png" width="509" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: https://www.virungaparkcongo.com/information/gorilla-trekking-africa/</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">My
wife Patricia had a Design student a few years ago that one day will be
a renowned travel photographer: Elissa Title. She recently took a
gorilla trek.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="http://globetrotting-elissa.blogspot.com/2022/03/gorilla-redemption.html">Click HERE for Elissa's safari to photograph Gorillas in the mist.</a></span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Instinct (1999) is an American psychological thriller worth watching and starring Cuba Gooding, and Donald Sutherland with Anthony Hopkins. This film was loosely based on Daniel Quinn's novel <i>Ishmael </i>(also worth a read).</span></span><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p></div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-45644599738637140872020-07-22T11:45:00.028-07:002022-12-26T12:11:39.238-08:00CAIRO<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: #660000;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: #660000;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Patricia slipped into Simple, an upscale boutique here in Laguna Beach California. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">There
is a subtle but visible difference in the boutique as though arranged
by an artist from a more beautiful world. That would be Sammy to whom I
chat while Patricia's keen artistic eyes fondle the fabrics. This is her
favorite exclusive shop.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> A she browses for a few minutes, someone offers to show her an even more beautiful dress. <br /></span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: #660000;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;">Sammy is vibrant and animated. I mention my Life List which includes walking the streets of Cairo and sailing up the Nile. He directs me to the far end of his store where he introduces me to Jennie Hesham Elmished, his English wife from New York, I can hear a little London in her voice. It's not long before the four of us are chatting over dinner.</span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> I drive downtown to join Sammy and Jenni for coffee and breakfast at Zinc Caffe. This is how life ought to be. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;">“Try, try, try, try.” Sammy tells me: “That is the difference between Egypt and America. Americans try, try, try. Try new things, open minded. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;">Buy Egypt does not try new things because of the Nile. Each year the Nile fills the Egyptian flood plane with fresh, nutrient rich silt. So rich is it that Egyptian farm work is very light. They don’t have to work the land. The rich silt grows everything in great abundance. Every year it is the same, why try anything new? No need to try, try, try.”</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;">An epiphany, the Pyramids of Egypt were possible only because of that rich silt flooding from the Nile, creating an unparalleled abundance, that is the foundation of the great Pyramids. <br /></span></span></span></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUYgEQsdjyhAZqfCjxiwgBYiJrkwz2ySRe7RE-rtG126rkbxi_iq6e30E-_eR2SysITd3l9WFqaott1mLq6xVtqTlUsx8btAsGGkbmHG7xiLMWnhbv0-Wl9z-QIgsM7McaB4rO1sXNw0EIDw-HL6lX5V2KuHEogp2ZqOWPugFJU-jwZfp6ex666Lg/s4032/egypt1.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="665" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUYgEQsdjyhAZqfCjxiwgBYiJrkwz2ySRe7RE-rtG126rkbxi_iq6e30E-_eR2SysITd3l9WFqaott1mLq6xVtqTlUsx8btAsGGkbmHG7xiLMWnhbv0-Wl9z-QIgsM7McaB4rO1sXNw0EIDw-HL6lX5V2KuHEogp2ZqOWPugFJU-jwZfp6ex666Lg/w499-h665/egypt1.JPG" width="499" /></a></span></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #660000;"><a href="https://beyondthebucketlist.co/the-streets-of-cairo/"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Months
later Sammy mentions an Egyptian wedding and invites us to it and a
personal introduction to Cairo. Then the pandemic ruffles our plans but
Jennie gives us four books to read as we think of traveling to Egypt.</span></span></a></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://beyondthebucketlist.co/the-streets-of-cairo/">Click HERE for Streets of Cairo article.</a> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Patricia finds a fifth book! (We are midway into this novel.)</span></span>
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQiGskj4JEFn7mkNZZ94POGo1Tm9VplUMI19a1Obco35dIni4xI3ETRxBq9afMLhxTa0OOpG-MSl2svlgks1DU9yOG6c9D3dvL6CP26c27dX1VUSB8UbFN0u8AnebSZBVvxNcsE4z7sLIfx8iVdcqsJ6q9FS7kl3gLZ2Wrsrv3r5Vi7IQu6cE8gJk/s4032/egy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="525" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQiGskj4JEFn7mkNZZ94POGo1Tm9VplUMI19a1Obco35dIni4xI3ETRxBq9afMLhxTa0OOpG-MSl2svlgks1DU9yOG6c9D3dvL6CP26c27dX1VUSB8UbFN0u8AnebSZBVvxNcsE4z7sLIfx8iVdcqsJ6q9FS7kl3gLZ2Wrsrv3r5Vi7IQu6cE8gJk/w394-h525/egy2.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><br /></div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496237926358688195.post-5308402516385930612011-07-03T08:05:00.003-07:002020-07-22T11:58:58.515-07:0011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>
</div>
Toby Manzanareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367776255770694264noreply@blogger.com0